ISLAMABAD, July 20: The parliamentary committee on water resources on Tuesday failed to evolve a consensus on the construction of large dams as Sindh and the NWFP rejected Kalabagh dam as an option while all provinces were unanimous in implementing the 1991 water accord in its totality.

The four chief ministers were unanimous that the 1991 accord "is sacrosanct and will be implemented in toto without any reference to ministerial decisions of 1994," chairman of the PCWR Senator Nisar A. Memon said.

This means that a 1994 ministerial committee decision to distribute water shortages on the basis of annual average use for the period between 1977 and 1982 that favoured Punjab has been annulled and Sindh's point of view has prevailed after 10 years.

Mr Memon was speaking at a news conference after the chief minister's meeting. He said that all the four provinces also unanimously resolved that large dams needed to be built in the country but there was a need to build a consensus in this regard.

The PCWR meeting was attended by federal minister for water and power, four chief ministers, irrigation secretaries and chairmen of Irsa and Wapda. The meeting also decided that provincial priority irrigation projects and small reservoirs costing a total of Rs206 billion and Rs8.1 billion, respectively, in the first year would be taken up with the president for additional allocations during the current year.

He, however, said the provinces would inform the PCWR about their priorities so that it could re-submit the same to the federal government for inclusion in the current year's development programme. The priorities, once put on paper, could not be changed even by the provinces concerned, he said.

After the meeting, Sindh Chief Minister Dr Arbab Ghulam Rahim told reporters that the provinces had agreed to develop large reservoirs but without naming any project. He said he had registered Sindh's reservations and objections over the Kalabagh dam.

He said that it was beyond comprehension why Kalabagh dam was being insisted upon when Bhasha, Skardu Katzarah and other proposed dams had a combined storage capacity higher than the controversial dam, adding that there had been a controversy over both the Kalabagh dam and Thal canal since 1950.

In the past, he said, canals were initially constructed as flood canals but they were later regularised and converted into permanent irrigation canals. Dr Rahim said that the four provinces unanimously agreed to implement the 1991 accord and now the distribution of water in case of shortages would be made on the basis of Para-2 of the accord and not under Section 14(b) of the accord. He said Irsa has been directed to implement this decision forthwith.

Punjab Chief Minister Pervez Elahi said that the decision to annul the decision of the 1994 ministerial committee on the 1991 water accord was unanimous and so was the understanding on construction of large dams. He, however, declined to comment about any particular dam.

Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Yousaf, while agreeing that large dams, including Kalabagh dam should be constructed, deplored that Balochistan was not getting its share of water. He said he had taken up the issue with the committee and was assured that the provinces would get its due share in the future.

The PCWR chairman Nisar Memon said the chief ministers were given a comprehensive briefing on the whole exercise undertaken by the committee since November 2003. He said Pakistan had 75.86 million acres of cultivable land of which only 36 million acres was currently under cultivation while 53 per cent land or 39.86 million acres of land was still virgin.

He said that presently Pakistan's per capita water availability was just 1,200 cubic meters and it would decline to 1,000 cubic meters by 2010 and render Pakistan into one of "water scarce countries".

He said Pakistan's average water losses had risen to 45 per cent, which meant that seepage losses in Pakistan amounted to nearly 47 million acre-foot out of a total of 104 MAF, while any new dam could store only 6-7 MAF.

He said the PCWR would submit now submit its interim report to the president and the prime minister through a presentation while the technical committee would give its initial report in September, followed by another in December and its final report by February 2005 and then the PCWR would submit its final report by June 2005 when a decision on construction of a new dam would be taken by the government.

He said that schemes costing Rs66 billion for lining of water courses, canals and minors is currently in progress that would generate 100,000 job opportunities for four years and provide water saving of eight MAF per annum.